“Don’t make me feel bad for you,” Evan said with a sigh.
“Don’t. You don’t need to. I brought most of my problems onto myself.”
To that, she gave me a nod.
“Is the tea cool enough for her to drink, so she can take the pill?”
“Yeah. And she has an antibiotic too. Again, if it doesn’t counteract.”
“It won’t, but give it two hours before you offer that to her.”
“Okay. Noted.”
“You won’t forget?” she pressed.
“No. I have nothing going on but this today,” I told her since Brooks had gone missing yet again.
“Okay. Good. I am going to come back with her dad later today. Maybe after dinner,” she said. “Before she is due for another pill, so she won’t be out cold. Though, she needs her sleep.”
“She’s not doing anything today but watching movies and staying her ass in bed,” I said.
“The first part she will enjoy. The second part…”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “I know. It’s hard to keep her down.”
“The pain is pretty fierce today, so I don’t think she’s planning on getting up for a while unless she really needs to.”
“You don’t have to worry too much, Evan,” I said, giving her direct eye contact. “I am going to keep an eye on her for you.”
“I shouldn’t trust or believe you,” Evan said. “But somehow, I do.”
“If I fuck it up, you can always dose me with something untraceable,” I suggested.
To that, she let out a small laugh.
“Yes, there is always that option,” she agreed, taking the tea and the pill over toward her daughter, getting her to take it, and saying her goodbyes. “If anything seems wrong—“
“I will make sure you are the first to know,” I assured her.
“Thank you,” she said, then made her way out.
“Alright,” I said, exhaling hard. “Your ma is gone. You can let it out,” I told her.
Her gaze held mine for a long second before she turned and screamed into her pillow.
“There you go,” I said, grabbing the tray and making my way toward her.
“That shit she put on burned like a mother,” Louana grumbled. “And my pants are going to be stained purple forever.”
“That shit works, though,” I told her. “That gent—“
“Gentian Violet,” Louana filled in for me.
“Yeah, that. Voss scrounged up some gauze pads that were coated with that shit. Came from some fancy-ass wound care center. Worked like a charm.”
“And by scrounged up, do you mean he broke in and stole them?”
“He’s a man of many talents. Come on, try to sit up a bit. You gotta eat some of this or your stomach is going to hurt from the pain meds.”